Staff Hardware System Design Engineer

Quick Facts

• Title: Staff Hardware System Design Engineer
• Location: San Diego, CA (100% on-site)

Description

Own the end-to-end board design lifecycle for high-performance FPGA-based emulation platforms, including schematic capture, 26+ layer PCB stack-up, PCB layout, BOM management, power/signal-integrity simulation, and design verification testing. Drive system-level architecture with customers and software/firmware teams, including simulation and design-change recommendations for 10 Gbps+ SERDES and high-speed I/O. Lead lab bring-up, installation, debug, and cross-functional prototyping/support for multi-board systems.

Responsibilities

• Own the board design lifecycle (schematics, PCB stack-up, PCB layout, BOM management, and design verification testing)
• Drive system-level architecture with customer and software/firmware teams
• Perform power and signal integrity simulations from model extraction through simulation, reporting, and recommended design changes for 10 Gbps+ signals
• Lead/support FPGA board design (Xilinx and/or Altera), including DDR3/DDR4/DDR5 discrete memory subsystems
• Direct lab technicians for system installation, bring-up, and debug; lead root-cause investigation of complex issues
• Collaborate with mechanical, PCB layout, and manufacturing teams to optimize for signal integrity, DFM, and reliability
• Author and maintain design documentation (HDDs, pinout tables, design review packages)
• Serve as key/primary technical point of contact for system architecture decisions and trade-offs
• Support factory production builds and NPI activities as needed

Requirements

• Board design lifecycle experience: schematic capture, PCB stack-up (26+ layers), PCB layout, BOM management, and design verification testing
• FPGA board design experience (Xilinx and/or Altera) and FPGA HDL coding experience
• Experience designing for 10 Gbps+ SERDES and performing power/signal integrity simulations (model extraction to reporting and actionable recommendations)
• Signal integrity and transmission line theory knowledge, plus circuit and layout guidelines for high-speed designs
• Experience with DDR3/DDR4/DDR5 discrete component board designs
• System architecture design experience; Staff-level requires defining architecture across multiple boards/platforms
• Familiarity with I2C, JTAG, UART, SPI, SD Card, PCIe, and eMMC
• Basic Linux/Unix experience
• Familiarity with common EDA/tools and simulation workflows
• Ability to work on-site in San Diego, CA; must be able to lift/move lab equipment and boards and support extended lab bring-up/debug

Benefits

• Competitive annual discretionary bonus program
• Opportunity for annual RSU grants
• Highly competitive benefits package